“I didn’t know if you were finished looking at them.”
“So you kept them?”
“I knew you’d be back.”
The lack of human presence in the flat for the last six weeks means it’s chilly. “I should’ve sent someone to turn on the heat.”
“The cold is a good reason to snuggle until the furnace can heat the place up.”
“Right.”
Sterling appears at the door with our luggage. “Where would you like your bags?”
“There will be fine.” Sterling pushes our bags up next to the sofa out of the way. “Thank you. That will be all for now.”
“Of course, sir.”
Sin turns on the heat. “It shouldn’t take long to warm up. Are you tired?”
I’m beyond tired. Two flights and one layover. A sixteen-hour journey from beginning to end. “I feel like I could sleep for a week and the jet lag hasn’t even had time to kick in yet.”
“Let’s go to bed for a little while.”
I’m not sure that’s a good idea. “It’s nine in the morning. Our days and nights will for sure be messed up.”
“They’re already messed up, Bonny. It’s three in the morning to us.” He pulls on my wrists. “Come on. It won’t hurt if we rest a little.”
I’m not sure he has resting on his mind. “I will, but only to sleep and get warm.”
“We haven’t been here together in months. All I want is to lie next to you and sleep in our bed, in our home.”
Sounds like heaven.
* * *
I wake because I’m freezing. I’ve never shared a bed with Sin in weather like this but I’m learning that he’s a cover hog.
I’m a girl from the South. I’m not used to this degree of cold. It’s going to become bone chilling when December arrives in a few weeks so I need to make note of my husband’s linen-stealing tendencies.
He looks warm and toasty beneath our platinum bedding so I slide over to spoon him from behind. I place my ice-cold hand over his stomach and give the comforter a yank, but to no avail as it’s tucked snuggly around him.
“Cold?” he groans.
I wrap my leg around his body. “Mmm … hmm. Very.”
He rolls to face me and brings the bedding with him, spreading it over me. “I can’t have my sweet Bonny catching a chill.”
He’s holding me close, his chin resting on the top of my head. “Better?”
“Much. The climate change is a bit of a shock.”
“You were here during the long summer days. Winter is much different. Not only is it cold, but the days are very short. Don’t worry. You’ll adjust fine. After all, you are a chameleon.” He’s laughing at me again.
Chameleon. It’s true. I was taught from an early age to adapt to my surroundings but my husband doesn’t know the true extent.
I studied Sin for years. I stalked him with the purpose of using him for all I could get and then I’d toss him aside. I’m not sure he’s sorted out the depth of my plans, but it’s something I feel obligated to admit. “I watched and studied you for years.”
He’s rubbing his hands up and down my arms. “I know.”
He only thinks he knows. “No. I don’t believe you really do.”
He pulls away and looks at me. “What does that mean?”
Here goes. “I had to learn everything about the infamous Sinclair Breckenridge if I was going to infiltrate the brotherhood through you—your habits, your likes, your dislikes. I needed to understand your role within The Fellowship and how you functioned outside of it. I knew as soon as we met that I was up to my ass in alligators with the way you made me feel. I tried to tell myself you were a monster. I wanted to hate you so badly. I tried my damnedest but I couldn’t. That’s when I realized that pursuing you came easy because I wanted you desperately.”
The wrinkle between his brows forms a tight V. “You knew my habits with women before we met? And you used that knowledge to your benefit?”
I nibble my bottom lip and squint. “Yes.”
“What exactly was your objective?”
“To make you fall in love with me.” It sounds so much worse when I say it aloud.
“Because getting close to me meant getting close to my father?”
“That was the plan.” I can’t read his expression. “I’m sorry.”
“So the whole ‘want me, wait for me, can’t have me until you are dying to please me’ thing was all an act?”
“At first. But then everything changed because I fell in love with you.” He was supposed to be collateral damage. Until he became so much more.
“There were so many times I thought of telling you to leave without ever looking back. I knew I was no good for you.”
I’m so happy he didn’t. I would’ve been wrecked. “But you didn’t.”
“Because I’m a selfish bastard. I couldn’t let you go.”
Sin’s wrong. He was completely selfless. “A selfish bastard wouldn’t have taken a crazy-ass, near-death beating for me.”
I’m still amazed by his decision to offer himself in my place so he could keep me.
Isobel was right. I’m finally able to see his sacrifice as the beautiful show of love it was. I love him all the more for it. “Thank you, for what you did.”
“I’d do it again without a moment’s hesitation. That’s how much I love you.”
I believe him. “I love you with my heart, body, and soul.”
My favorite dimple makes its appearance. “I’m happy you love me with your heart and soul but I very much enjoy you loving me with your body.”
There hasn’t been much opportunity for any kind of loving since our wedding night. Things have been far too hectic, but I plan to remedy that now that we’re home.
“Me too. We have a lot of newlywed sexy time to catch up on.”
“Then we’d better get on it. Rodrick covered for me while I was gone but I’m the new full-time defender for The Fellowship now that I’m back. And believe me—the brothers will keep me busy with their fuck-ups.”
I suppose that means we won’t be taking a honeymoon. “I was hoping we’d have a few days to go away before you had to return to work.”
“Sorry, Bonny. There isn’t time. I resumed my place as defender as soon as my feet touched Edinburgh soil.”
He sucks air in through his teeth as his hand finds its way down between my legs. “So you see, Mrs. Breckenridge, there’s a chance I could be called away at any moment. It might be a good idea to christen our bed before the next summons pulls me away.”
I took my jeans off before getting into bed so only a thin layer of cotton shields me from his fingers. “Sounds like a very good call to me.”
He pushes me onto my back, covering me with his body, his weight pressing me into the mattress. He settles between my legs and his hand creeps down the front of my panties. His palm cups me as he glides a finger down my center. His mouth hovers over my ear and I can feel the warmth of his breath against my skin. “You have no idea how much I’ve missed being inside you.”
Inside me. Those two words are enough to make my insides seethe from the fire igniting deep in my groin.
I curl my arms under his and wrap my hands around his bare shoulders. “I bet I have some idea.”
He uses one finger to lightly stroke from top to bottom, over and over. His touch is featherlight. And maddening. “You’re killing me.”
“How so?”
He knows exactly what he’s doing. “You’re being an enormous tease.”
He flicks my clit in a downward motion using the tip of his finger. “It’s called foreplay, Bonny.”
“It should be called torture.”
“Tell me what you want me to do next.”
Oh, that’s the game we’re playing. He wants me to beg. Well, I’m not above it. “Make me come.”
He tsks against my ear. “You have to be more specific than that.”
His warm breath feels so good against my skin. “With
your mouth.”
“That’s better, but still not quite what I’m looking for. Put those two phrases together and tell me again.”
He’s enjoying this a little too much. “Make me come with your mouth.”
“That, I can do.” He pushes the front of my shirt up. “But first I want this off.”
I arch upward and he pulls my shirt over my head. “That’s better.”
His lips begin at the base of my throat before moving down my body. He stops in the center of my chest and takes a detour over to my left breast. The tip of his tongue grazes the edge of my nipple, causing it to immediately harden. “You’re in complete control. I’ll do anything you want. You only have to ask.”
Knowing what I want, and admitting it out loud are two different things. I’m not sure I’m brave enough to say what I really want.
“Roll your tongue around the tip and then suck it into your mouth.” He carries out my request.
“One or both?”
“Both.”
He moves to my other breast and I grab his hand, bringing it to my free one. With my hand on top of his, I show him what I want.
When he’s finished, his mouth returns to the center of my chest and migrates downward. “Want more of this?”
“Yes.” I hear the breathlessness in my own voice.
“Then you need to tell me.”
“I want more. Please.”
He nibbles the skin on my stomach just above my panties. I know he wants to go down. And I want him to. But dammit, he isn’t budging.
He wants me to ask for it. So I will. “Please, Breck.”
“Please what?”
Saying the words is intimidating. “Take my panties off.”
“You’re getting closer.”
“Please take my panties off and make me come with your mouth.”
“Gladly.”
But he doesn’t. Instead, he buries his nose in the crotch of my underwear and sniffs. “Mmm … I could almost get off just by your smell alone.”
So close … yet so far away. It’s making me crazy.
He dips his fingers into the waist of my panties and I think he’s going to pull them down. But he surprises me again when I feel his wet tongue saturating the crotch of my panties. The wet fabric makes everything much more sensitive.
He’s definitely trying to torture me to death. No doubt. “Ohh …”
He torments me with his tongue before finally dragging my cotton undies down my legs. It’s about damn time.
He pushes my knees apart and grasps my ankles, placing them on his shoulders. I push the pillow away from beneath my head, tilt my chin in the air, and place my hand over my eyes in preparation of what’s to come next.
In the exact moment I think the anticipation may very well kill me, he drags his tongue against me in an upward motion. Just once. “You taste so good. I could do this all day.”
“Then do.”
He grasps my hips and pulls me down in the bed. The position sprawls my legs further apart until he has me completely spread-eagle.
He inserts two fingers inside me and pumps them while his tongue flutters against my clit. The combination of the two is the best of both worlds. He’s giving the right attention to both of my most sensitive spots.
I move my hand to the top of his head and grasp his hair. “That feels amazing.”
I’m moving my hips in rhythm with his fingers when I hear something—the doorbell.
I stretch my neck upward so I can see Sin. “Was that the bell?”
He shakes his head, never looking up at me.
I’m pretty sure it was. “I think it is.”
He briefly stops to reply. “Don’t give a fuck if it is.”
My feet are planted on the bed now and my upper body is propped on my elbows as I watch Sin’s head bob between my legs. Just the sight alone nearly brings me to climax.
He places the heel of his palm just above my pubic bone and presses downward. I don’t know what it does but my clit suddenly feels much more sensitive. “Ohh … that is wonderful.”
I tilt my hips upward. And hear the doorbell ring again.
Sin lifts his head from between my legs and looks at me. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” he groans.
The bell rings a third time just before he throws the covers back and yells, “Motherfucker!”
He moves to the edge of the bed and reaches for his prosthesis. “Who the hell would be showing up at our house like this unannounced? Now? We’ve only been home a few hours.”
Oh shit. He’s furious.
Sin is in an important role. He doesn’t have the luxury of ignoring doorbells or phone calls. If we’re being honest, he’s at the beck and call of the brotherhood.
“Don’t move out of that bed. I will be right back after I get rid of whoever it is.” He kisses me quickly. “And we’ll pick up right where I left off.”
I grab all the blankets, tucking them beneath my chin. One of the prongs on my wedding ring scrapes my face, a reminder I’m wearing an enormous diamond on my left ring finger.
I hold my hand out to admire the outward symbol of my union with Sin. “You’ve marked me well, Sinclair Breckenridge. No one will ever mistake me for an unmarried woman as long as I have this on my finger.”
I’m snuggling in the warmth of our bed when Sin returns. “It’s my parents.”
He sounds none too pleased and I know why. It means we won’t be finishing what we started. That pleases neither of us.
I’m in no way prepared to receive visitors. “I need to freshen up.”
“It’s probably not a bad idea if I brush my teeth. And this.” He wiggles his tongue at me.
I could have gone all year without him doing that. “Oh my God. You can be so crude sometimes.”
“What? Would you prefer I not brush and go back out there to speak with my mum and dad while your feminine essence lingers on my breath?”
Well, that’s just mortifying, even coming from him. “No. I’d rather you say nothing about my essence on your breath and brush your teeth because it’s good hygiene.”
“And miss an opportunity to see you blush?”
I can feel the heat in my cheeks. “Shut up and let me get dressed.”
I remember all I have in the bedroom are the clothes I wore yesterday—not so fresh after a sixteen-hour journey. “Can you go into the living room and get my bag so I can change into something clean?”
He goes to the drawers I used when I lived here months ago. He opens the top one and takes out my favorite yoga pants and T-shirt. “Your things are just as you left them.”
I hold the clothes to my naked chest and feel a deep ache in my heart. “I can’t believe you kept my stuff.”
I crawl to the end of the bed. He comes to put his arms around me. “I knew you’d be back soon.”
He sounds cocky and arrogant but his confidence is one of the things I love so much about him. “You did, huh?”
“Mmm-hmm.” He’s pressing his groin against me. “You know, it would only take a minute to finish what we were doing.”
No way. We’ve been deprived too long to rush this. “I don’t want it to take just a minute. I’m not a quickie kind of girl.”
“Aye, Bonny. I know exactly what kind of lass you are and how you like it.”
“Delayed gratification, Breck. You need to learn to love it if you’re going to stick with me.”
“I am. Forever.” He growls as he slaps my bare ass, causing me to yelp loudly. “Come. My parents await. They’re anxious to see their new daughter-in-law.”
I make myself presentable and go into the living room. Isobel stops midconversation when I enter. She gets up from the sofa and comes to me. My mother-in-law holds my face in her hands. She kisses each of my cheeks before embracing me. “My sweet daughter.”
Daughter. Not daughter-in-law.
She releases her hold and Thane is waiting to embrace me next. He holds me tightly and whispers in my ear. “I kne
w you were Amanda’s. Rational thoughts tried to tell me it wasn’t possible but I always knew in my heart.” He releases me and holds my face in his hands the same way Isobel did. “You’re so much like her. It’s absolutely amazing.”
I’m not really sure how to respond. “Thank you” doesn’t seem the appropriate thing to say. I smile instead.
“Sit with us. We have much to discuss.”
I take the seat beside my husband on the sofa, facing my in-laws.
Thane begins. “First of all, we want you to know how sorry we are to hear of your father’s death.”
“Thank you. The flowers you sent were beautiful.”
Thane continues. “You may believe your only remaining relative is your sister but that isn’t true. Our son chose you as his wife. That means we are your family now.”
“You’ll never know how much I treasure you embracing me as one of your own.” I might as well get my deception out in the open so we can move on. “Mostly because I didn’t come to you under the most honest terms.”
“Ye didn’t come with malice in mind.” Isobel has no idea but she couldn’t be more wrong. My intentions were very malicious.
“Everything you did was because you wanted answers about your mother’s murder. I can’t begrudge your deception,” Thane says.
Sin told Thane and Isobel I’m a former agent. He was left with no choice after Abram uncovered my history. My in-laws also know I’m Amanda’s daughter. It was the only way Sin could explain my infiltration into The Fellowship without revealing my intention to kill Thane.
It’s a huge bump in the road but my goal hasn’t changed. It’s transitioned into a new stage. I know less than I ever have. I’m back to square one on finding my mother’s killer.
“I have to figure out who it was.”
“Perhaps we can put our known facts together and come up with a list of suspects.”
This is a strange situation to be in. Thane’s asking me to discuss my mom—his mistress—in front of his wife. It’s uncomfortable. And I don’t wish to be disrespectful to my mother-in-law.
I understand Thane and Isobel’s relationship but I need to have her approval. “Are you okay with us discussing my mother?”
“Of course. But I’ll step out if my presence makes ye uneasy.”